dnr'nuj a Cruise in the (Utribbean Sea. 317 



Freoata aquila (Linn.). 



These birds were beginuiiig to nest and were present in 

 hundreds. I did not see a single example with a red gular 

 sac during the two days we were at the Testigos, and I 

 am inclined to think that this is only acquired by very old 

 males. One of our officers told me that he had seen one. 

 By far the greater number of birds hovering over the islands 

 had the head black and the throat and thorax white, with a 

 pectoral band of brownish not meeting in the middle line — 

 that is to say, they were either young males or young 

 females ; a lesser number had the head and neck white 

 (fully adult females). 



Ceryle alcyon (Linn.). 



I saw several examples of this Kingfisher along the shores 

 of the island. In my experience this bird seems to prefer 

 salt to fresh water. There was no water in any of the 

 watercourses on Testigo Grande when we visited the group. 

 I have found this bird on Blanquilla Island, which is seventy 

 miles from the mainland, and contains no streams, on Swan 

 Island (ninety-eight miles from the coast), which is another 

 streamless island, and again on the Cayman Islands. So far 

 as my recollection goes, I have not met with it as a rule very 

 far from the sea when exploring rivers, and its favourite 

 resorts are the mangrove bushes which border their mouths, 

 where the water is brackish or tidal. 



Chrysolampis moschitus (Linn.). 



Chrysolampis moschitus Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xvi, 

 p. 113 (1892) ; Sharpe, Hand-1. ii. p. 119 (1900). 



Three males and two females. 



I only found this pretty little Humming-bird on one of 

 the smaller islands of the group. In April 1906 I found it 

 very common on Blanquilla Island, but on two subsequent 

 visits, one in January and the other in February, I failed to 

 observe a single specimen. There can, therefore, be little 

 doubt that this diminutive bird annually migrates over 

 ninety-five miles of open sea, for Blanquilla is so small 

 and the vegetation on which the bird feeds so uniformly 



